Bühler unveils over 20 digital innovations at the Ipack Ima trade show

Bühler has the capability to connect more than 85% of its solutions to the cloud, and is continuing to introduce innovative solutions. At the Ipack Ima trade show for food process technology and packaging Bühler presented over 20 digital services on its booth. These solutions contribute to Bühler’s goal of slashing energy consumption and waste in the food chain by 30% by 2020.

Digitalization has become a game changer for the food processing industry. Data about weather, harvesting, production processes, quality, and food safety is captured across the entire value chain, enabled by sophisticated and cost-effective sensor technology. How can this increasing information be used to create customer value and drive transparency within the food value chain?

At the Ipack Ima trade fair in Milan, Bühler presented over 20 digital services to its customers. These solutions are designed to make food safer, to save energy, and to prevent waste. “Digitalization is unlocking an enormous potential in the food processing industry,” says Johannes Wick, CEO of Bühler’s Grains & Food business. “This is only the very beginning of a transformation of the entire industry. Recently, we established our first team of data analytics experts. Our goal is to help advance digital transformation in our industries,” he adds.

Amongst many digital solutions, Bühler has launched two image-processing IoT solutions, GrainiGo for corn and TotalSense for rice. The solutions allow the customers to assess raw material quality and trends, compare performance, and store data for future analysis and traceability. With PastaSense, pasta makers are now able to monitor the entire process from raw materials to the end product on the basis of sensor technology, eliminating the need for costly manual checks and records.

“We now have the capability to connect more than 85% of our solutions to the cloud,” says Ian Roberts, Bühler CTO. And he adds: “We are convinced that digital technologies are key to deliver on our promise of achieving a 30% reduction of waste and energy consumption in the food value chain.”

Bühler is also showcasing its revolutionary LumoVision optical sorting technology at the Ipack Ima.

This new generation of optical sorter has been launched late April at the Hannover Messe in Germany together with technology leader Microsoft. LumoVision is, for the very first time, able to identify and sort out corn that has been contaminated with aflatoxin. Around 500 million people today are at risk of regular exposure to aflatoxin, which is one of the most toxic organic substances of the world. It contributes to over 150,000 cases of liver cancer per year and to stunting in millions of children every year. Special ultraviolet cameras and sensors enable LumoVision sorters to reduce aflatoxin contamination in maize by up to 90%, Bühler has partnered with Microsoft, using its Azure cloud technology to help estimate contamination risk of raw material and to maximize productivity.

It works by analyzing the color each kernel fluoresces as it passes under powerful UV lighting in the sorter. It is known that contaminated kernels fluoresce a specific bright green color. LumoVision’s proprietary, highly sensitive cameras detect precisely this color of fluorescence. Within milliseconds of detection, air nozzles deploy to blow contaminated kernels out of the product stream. The machine processes up to 15 tons of product an hour.

PARTNERING UP WITH KEY PLAYERS IN THE FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

Bühler continued to address the major challenges and trends of the food processing industry with its collaborative Bühler Networking Days series at the Ipack Ima. Leading industry representatives and experts from Bühler focus their attention on hotly debated topics such as hygienic design, traceability in the food value chain, food fraud, alternative proteins, and digitized value chains.

More information about Bühler’s digital solutions can be found here: https://digital.buhlergroup.com/